Beyond the Capital: The Federal Workforce Outside the D.C. Area When you think of the federal government, you probably think of Washington, D.C. Indeed, the nation’s capital is home to the White House, Congress, the Supreme Court and many federal agency headquarters. But it is far from the only federal hub. In fact, the vast majority of the roughly 2 million federal career civil servants—more than 80%—work outside the D.C. area, in every U.S. state and territory, and in countries around the world. Employees in the field do much of the day-to-day work of delivering on the mission of our government. They care for our veterans, support our farmers, inspect our roads and bridges, protect our food supply and respond to disasters. Given that employees outside the D.C. area form such a significant part of the federal workforce, the Partnership for Public Service sought to better understand the composition and characteristics of this geographically dispersed workforce by analyzing data from the Office of Personnel Management. In the analysis below, we define the D.C. area as Washington, D.C., and all of Maryland and Virginia, as data is not publicly available below the state level to define the National Capital Region more precisely. This latest iteration of Fed Figures complements the overview of the full federal workforce we released earlier this year. The data offers the public, members of Congress, political leaders, the media and others, insights into the federal workforce in communities around the country. Unless otherwise noted, data in this analysis is for full-time, nonseasonal, permanent civilian employees of the executive branch as of March 2024. It does not include: most employees of the legislative or judicial branches; the intelligence community; the U.S. Postal Service, foreign service officers; residents of other countries employed by State Department offices overseas; uniformed military personnel; or contractors working for the government. Percentages throughout may not add up to 100 due to rounding. Geographic Distribution of the Federal Workforce The majority of career civil servants work within the United States, with about 98% of the federal workforce located in the 50 states and Washington, D.C. Another 0.7% of employees work in U.S. territories, primarily in Puerto Rico, and about 1% work in foreign countries. The totals in the chart below do not include foreign service officers in the State Department, as these employees are tracked differently. The D.C. area—Washington, D.C., Maryland and Virginia—is home to 19.8% of federal employees, while 80.2% of federal employees work outside the D.C. area. Washington, D.C., alone is home to 7.1% of the workforce, with 147,590 employees. Of employees outside the D.C. area, the largest federal employee populations are in California—6.4% of the workforce (132,869 employees), Texas—5.6% (116,021 employees), Florida—4.2% (86,702 employees) and Georgia—3.5% (72,662 employees). For security reasons, the locations of about 12% of federal employees—those who work in agencies such as the FBI and the Secret Service—are not publicly available. Trends Over Time The percentage of the federal workforce outside the D.C. area has been remarkably consistent for over a decade. In September 2010, 21.2% of the workforce was located in D.C., Maryland and Virginia, while 78.8% was outside the D.C. area. By September 2023, this had risen slightly to 80% of the workforce, demonstrating a small increase in the percentage of the workforce outside the D.C. area over the past two administrations. The federal workforce outside the D.C. area has grown at a faster rate than the overall federal workforce. Since September 2010, the full-time federal workforce has grown an average of 0.8% each fiscal year. This growth has been driven largely by employees outside the D.C. area, where the workforce has expanded by an average of 1% per fiscal year. In contrast, the D.C. region has seen much slower growth, averaging just 0.4% annually over the same period. Top Agencies by State The federal workforce outside the D.C. area is distributed across a variety of federal agencies. The Department of Veterans Affairs and components of the Department of Defense are among the largest agencies in many states, as VA health care facilities and military installations are located around the country. Other agencies have a significant presence only in some states—for example, NASA is one of the largest agencies in Alabama due to the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, while the Department of Health and Human Service is among the top five agencies in New Mexico, due to a large Indian Health Service presence that serves the state’s Native American population. Occupations Federal employees work in a variety of occupations, in fields ranging from scientific research to law enforcement to electrical work. Occupations in STEM—science, technology, engineering and math—and in health fields are two important portions of the federal workforce outside the D.C. area. STEM employees account for 14.8% of these employees, while employees in health-related occupations account for 10.7%. Employees working in health-related occupations are often a substantial part of the workforce in states with a large Department of Veterans Affairs presence, since 78.3% of these employees outside of D.C. work for the VA. By contrast, STEM employees are more widely spread across agencies. Employees in blue-collar occupations are also part of the federal workforce outside the D.C. region. Employees in these fields—including custodians, electricians, aircraft mechanics, food service workers and many others—account for 8.8% of the workforce outside the D.C. area. 87.1% of employees in federal blue-collar occupations live and work outside the D.C. area, compared with 80.2% of the total federal workforce. The percentage of employees in these fields varies across states. In states such as Hawaii, Maine and Washington state, more than one in five federal employees work in blue-collar occupations. Workforce Demographics Age Like the federal workforce as a whole, the workforce outside of D.C. is older than the overall U.S. workforce. 7.9% of the federal workforce outside of D.C. is younger than 30. While this is higher than the 6.2% of the D.C. area workforce under the age of 30, it is lower than the nearly 20% of the broader U.S. labor force in this age group. Education Level Slightly more than a quarter of federal employees outside the D.C. area have a high school diploma as their highest level of education, while another quarter have a bachelor’s degree. Slightly less than a quarter—23.6% of employees—have a post-graduate education. GS-Level The General Schedule is the predominant federal pay plan, with only about 28% of the workforce outside of D.C. on pay plans other than the GS system. Of those employees in the GS system, roughly the same percentage work in entry-level positions as in midlevel positions. Another 18.8% of employees outside the D.C. area work in senior level positions. Hiring and Departures In fiscal 2023, more than 168,000 new federal employees were hired outside the D.C. area, accounting for almost 83% of newly hired federal employees. However, the voluntary attrition rate for the federal workforce outside the D.C. area was 6.2%, higher than the 4.9% attrition rate for employees inside the D.C. area. The attrition rate outside D.C. also outpaced the attrition rate of 5.9% for the federal workforce overall, in fiscal 2023.
